


call me peter

by anonymouseling (orphan_account)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: 5+1, Coming Out, Gen, Mild Dysphoria, No Homophobia, No Transphobia, Trans Male Character, Trans Peter Parker, i didn't mean for it to get this long but i got carried away, i support my trans son and so does everyone else, i'm real happy with this oh man, it's pride month so let's do this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-05-24 22:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14963499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/anonymouseling
Summary: Spiderman was around long before Peter Parker. It had taken a while, but he slowly tells those he cares about.(or five times that peter comes out)





	1. Ned

**Author's Note:**

> i _love_ trans peter with all my soul, and i was looking for a fic where peter comes out after he became spiderman and unfortunately i couldn't find any. so! i did what every writer does when they encounter that problem and wrote it myself. 
> 
> just a heads up, i'm not trans myself. i mean, i'm agender and some people consider that trans but i dunno, BUT i do identify with peter in this fic in some aspects. i've pulled inspiration of my memories of trans guys i've met and memories of coming out to the various people in my life myself until i'm where i am now, legally changed my name and out to everyone who knows me. but yeah, if anything thing doesn't really fit well for a ftm trans guy and needs changing/adjusting then please let me know and i will change it. other than that, enjoy this non-homophobic, non-transphobic coming out fic!!

There was a lot of things that Petra loved about her alter ego, Spiderman.

Well, most of it was in the name really.

'Man'.

Because for Petra, there was nothing more she desired in life than to be a man.

Peter was the name that he chose for himself. He'd always liked the name, and as names went it was pretty neat. Not to mention that Peter Parker sounded so much better than Petra Parker. It rolled off the tongue easier, at least in Peter's opinion.

He's lived with constant uncertainty his whole life, feeling out of place in his own body. Never feeling quite right about it. Something that for the longest time he'd never been able to pin down the source of it or explain it to anyone. He'd tumble around with the boys as a child, had a certain disdain for skirts and dresses, and if you sat a book about trolls and dragons down next to a book about princesses and fairies, he'd read the first one.

His hair always bothered him if it was too long. Always getting pulled by other kids, getting caught in the latest roughhousing or just a complete mess unable to be tamed by brushes alone. Thankfully, his parents had never objected to a cute pixie cut, letting his hair curl around his ears.

As he grew up and found some information online, Peter nailed down exactly what he felt. And for the first time, he didn't feel like a freak in his own skin. Imagining himself without curves and a masculine frame, never having to deal with the monstrous contraption known as bras ever again, nor deal with the flesh sacks that felt more like weights strapped to him than apart of his body.

Peter had known for more than a few years who he was, but he could never find his voice when he wanted to say it. The crushing weight of the admission hung heavy above him, threatening to crush himself and whoever he told. Because it wasn't as something small as 'I'm thinking of doing something with my hair', because it would change...

_Everything._

It would change everything entirely. It would uproot every single nuance in Peter's life. It would change how people interacted with him, what they thought of him, and even how they acted around him. It felt...overwhelming.

There was no doubts that some people in Peter's life would accept him without question. Ned sprung to mind instantly, he was the most supportive and encouraging friend a guy could have. And MJ's friendship was new, but it was already well known she was at least a vocal LGBT+ supporter, so as long as she was genuine about that then she would also support him.

And whilst Peter had the utmost love and affection for others, he had absolutely zero clues as to how they would react. May...she'd never said anything on the subject. There was no...point of reference or hint as to what May thought of the community. Not even a whiff. Not a small comment on a celebrity coming out, or interactions with openly LGBT+ people, or even a mention of the pride parade shutting down a few blocks in June. It was like trying to write a map for a maze you had no information on.

Because as much as Peter wanted to believe that there was nothing that could tear him and May apart, he'd also heard of so many people's families rejecting them or not understanding them just for who they are. And Peter had lost way too many people in his life to lose May. He couldn't. Even the slightest risk...going in blind was something that he couldn't do.

Then there was Mr. Stark.

It was still _unbelievable_ to Peter that he got to spend so much time close to the genius billionaire. Him! Peter Parker! They'd sit together in Mr. Stark's workshop upstate on Friday nights, both of them working on a project for hours on end. Peter talking nonstop about either the project, Spiderman stuff or about his friends until FRIDAY reminded them of the time close to midnight. Then Mr. Stark and Peter would go sit in the lounge to watch a film and grab the dinner they were supposed to eat six hours ago but forgot to. Usually, Peter ended up passing out near the end of the movie, Mr. Stark leading a half-asleep Peter to his own room, steadying him when needed.

But yeah, Peter was in pretty much the same situation with Mr. Stark as he was with May and it was _killing_ him. Because Mr. Stark was such a public figure, there was so much public information about him, from the people he associated with, his opinions he voiced and the businesses he supported. But there was absolutely nothing that Peter  could find that told him Mr. Stark's opinion.

None! Tony Stark and the LGBT+ community had never interacted public, never spoken about it. So unfortunately, once again, Peter had no point of reference, and his opinions were in the dark.

Although there was one thing with Mr. Stark that Peter didn't have with May. For starters, he knew all about Spiderman, and on the very rare occasion where Iron Man needed the help of Spiderman, Mr. Stark switched to male pronouns to keep Peter's whole...thing up.

And the thing was probably kind of weird from an outsider. After all, if Petra Parker was a girl who decided to be a superhero...then why did she call herself Spiderman?

At first, it wasn't even Peter's intention to present himself as a guy. It wasn't his intention at all, but damn if it didn't end up giving him the biggest confidence boost of his teenaged life. All he'd done was wear a baggy outfit as his costume with a sports bra and a mask, then the general populace probably thought that the latest superhero _had_ to be a guy right?

So when Peter found out about the name, he ran with it. He embraced the name Spiderman, and for the first time it felt so freeing. In so many different ways, Spiderman became amazing to Peter.

That first meeting with Mr. Stark had been a huge nervous mess for many different reasons, but pulling a half thought out excuse for the gender change was one of Peter's more panicked moments.

 

_"That's you, right?" Mr. Stark asked, clicking something on his phone and summoning a hologram._

_Peter recognised the footage immediately, Spiderman taking out a criminal and swinging away. It...was sort of a habit of Peter's to watch over every clip uploaded to YouTube of Spiderman. It wasn't for the fame or to boost his ego, most of it was making sure that he hadn't revealed anything he hadn't meant to, or for self-evaluation purposes._

_"Um, no. Wh-what do you mean?" Peter stammered, fidgeting with his hands, unsure of where to put them._

_"Yeah? Look at you go." Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow, the clip changing to another familiar clip. The time that he'd stopped a car from slamming into a bus, still one of his closest calls yet. His heart had been hammering so far out of his chest then._

_"Wow! Nice catch. Three thousand pounds, forty miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills." Mr. Stark continued, it was hard for Peter to pin down his tone. Impressed? Curious? Excited? Either way, the entire subject had Peter so off kilter, he scrambled for ways to protect his identity. Sure this was Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, but there was a reason for the mask!_

_"T-That's all on YouTube though, right? I mean, that's where you found that? Because you know that's all fake. It's all done on the computer." Peter grasped at straws, moving to fiddle with some of his...well his dumpster salvaged junk. "A-and besides, that's SpiderMAN, n-not...Spiderwoman..." He trailed off._

_But then Mr. Stark poked up the hatch to the crawlspace, revealing Peter's suit and he made a lunge for it, quickly stuffing it in his laundry basket. It had been out in the open for a whole two second though, and Peter knew in his heart that he'd been found out long ago. The game was already won, and there was nothing that Peter could do to keep his secret._

_Mr. Stark stood in front of him. "So, you're the Spider-ling. Crime-fighting spider. You're Spider...boy?"_

_Peter sighed, folding his arms over his chest. It felt particularly heavy right now, getting harder to breathe, and Peter wanted nothing more than to curl up until the feeling went away. But unfortunately he couldn't whilst Mr. Stark was still here. "Spider...Spiderman." He corrected feebly._

_"How that come about anyways? I mean...You're obviously..." Mr. Stark held his hand out, awkwardly motioning to Peter's form. "A girl." He finished._

_Peter sighed, walking past him and sat on the bed. "I-I...didn't really...announce myself? I guess? Like claimed a name or anything, so I just went out in the suit the first few times and when people started paying attention...I dunno they assumed. I didn't bother saying otherwise."_

_"Huh." Mr. Stark replied, silent for a moment before continuing. "The onesie probably didn't help."_

_"It's not a onesie." Peter defended with a glare._

 

Looking back, it was sort of the truth. The only difference being the attitude. He'd made it sound like it was a decision he'd made with a shrug and maybe a 'why not', instead of the actual tearful emotion that Peter had felt when he realised.

Because that emotion had been overwhelming. The relief and huge boost of confidence, and the sense of mental stability that the name and gender gave him...there was no other way to describe it as than overwhelming. When he was first recognised as Spiderman by a passerby, it took everything Peter had to try to reply to the man in a level voice and not cry out of sheer happiness.

So yeah. All in all, Peter was quietly crapping himself with the crippling need to be himself and the stifling need to hide himself away.

 

* * *

 

He starts with Ned.

It's been almost a month since the Vulture and Ned and Peter were sat building their latest Lego set in Ned's room. There was something...in the moment that made Peter decide 'fuck it I'll rely on faith' and just blurt it out.

And it had just been a normal afternoon as well! They weren't doing anything special, and nothing had changed from any other time he and Ned had hung out for in the last six years. Just two dorks sat down with a multi thousand Lego set, a two liter bottle of soda on hand and talking about the latest Spiderman news.

"...and I mean it's just awesome Petra, what you do! Like, man! That guy didn't even see you coming!" Ned continued, most of his attention on the section he was building whilst Peter hadn't even touched his pieces for the last minute or so. "I mean, the stuff you do? God, you're awesome."

It was silent for a minute, and Peter just heard a little voice inside him nudge him a little whispering 'do it'.

And so he went for it.

"Uh, Ned? There is actually something I wanna talk to you about."

Ned didn't even look up from what he was doing, but Peter knew he was listening. Ned was always a brilliant listener. "Oh yeah, sure, go ahead."

"Could you call me Peter from now on?"

There.

He said it.

The first time that Peter had actually said his name to another human being. And...okay so his heart was beating twice as fast as it should be, his chest tight with both anxiety and dysphoria, he braced himself for rejection, but that little voice clasped hard onto hope.

Ned stopped for a moment. He cocked his head slightly, before looking up at Peter. "Yeah, I can do that, dude. So...Peter?"

Peter was still working through the hammering of his heart, so he could only jerkily nod.

"So like male pronouns and the works?"

Another jerky nod.

"Okay, man, of course I can do that for you." Ned put down the pieces in his hands and gave Peter a grin. "Thanks for telling me, Peter."

Peter was fighting back tears at that point, so overwhelmed with relief and gratitude and acceptance, all he could manage in return was a shakily smile and a relief laugh.

"C'mere dude, bring it in." Ned said opening his arms wide.

Again, Peter laughed, crawling over and embracing his friend willingly. Ned had always given the best hugs. The kind of hugs that make you feel like everything is going to be okay, even when you're point zero one percent away from crying, they were soothing.

"Hey, man. Peter. You'll always be my best friend. You're like a brother to me. Thanks for telling me, really." Ned spoke in a calm voice, reassuring. Like the times that Ned had cheered him up when Flash was especially mean.

"Y-you're like a brother too me too, Ned." Peter managed, his voice thick with tears, he buried his face in his friend's shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while, Peter drinking in the support and comfort that Ned provided. They drew back after Peter's nose started to run, he blew his nose then wiped his face. "Oh man, sorry for...y'know."

"Dude, don't even worry about it." Ned quickly batted the apology away with a shrug and a smile. "It's a big deal for you, Peter. You're allowed to get emotional."

That way that Ned kept repeating his name unnecessarily kept threatening to bring back the tears. It just felt so right hearing the name, hearing Ned call him that. Like the world was a picture frame that had been crooked for years, but someone set it level for the first time. Peter let out another relieved laugh and sniffed once more.

But then Peter bit his lip. "A-and as much as this is so great - and god thank you so much Ned - do...do you think that when we're around other people..." Peter's mood dampened a slight. "Can you like...still call me Petra and y'know female pronouns and stuff?"

Ned also looked a little saddened by the requested, but gave him a smile. "Of course, Peter. I cross my heart that I won't out you to anyone. But I'll let you know that I'm definitely going to overuse your name when I can though." He brightened up.

Peter laughed. "Yeah, well, that you can do."

They grinned at each other for a moment before Ned looked back at the Legos between them. "C'mon, let's get this set put together already. Oh! Tell me about that thing you're working on with Mr. Stark, Peter! I'm dying to know about your new super secret project..."

And that was that.

It made a world of difference. Suddenly, the confidence and freedom that Peter felt as Spiderman had leaked into his life as Peter. He'd always held back a little around Ned, involuntarily retreating a little further into himself at every mention of Petra and 'she'.

It was so minor, but just as they talked in whispers about Spiderman, Ned used his name a lot just like he promised. And each and every time, it was like a little caffeine shot of confidence. He'd always find himself grinning a little more at each use of his name, which probably looked stupid but Peter couldn't care less.

The feeling was so intoxicating that Peter...actually considered telling more people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was gonna try and write the entire thing out in one sitting, then post it all as a one shot, but it started to get long and figured it would be better to post it in chapters so that i don't burn out of inspiration asap (which i tend to do...) so! here we are! i have no set update schedule, just when i finish up a chapter and get it to decent length. and that's a thing, i'll try to aim for at least 1k words for every chapter but i'm very inconsistent so who knows.
> 
> i do have a plan and it's gonna be great. my only regret is not finishing this up before the end of pride month. but honestly, i'm always yelling about gay pride so im big ole shrug emoji abt it.
> 
> oh!! also!! my first mcu fic posted!! hell yeah!! let me know what you think bc im still shaky abt my characterisations and oh yeah any advice on writing coming out scenes would be good bc my memories of coming out were all a complete mess. im...not exaggerating, coming out to my mum was a big emotional mess. it went well in the end, she's 100% accepting but w/e not the point here. but yes! pls critize my work!! be brutal and honest!! i have a thick skin and the burning desire to improve! thanks for reading!! have a happy pride month!!!


	2. MJ

Peter wasn't quite ready to go run off and tell Aunt May. No, he needed to...work up to her. Somehow. Yeah, build his confidence. Go low risk to high risk. Since he already told Ned, it would make sense that MJ would be next. 

Two weeks after the conversation with Ned, Peter was working on a homework assignment with MJ in her bedroom. They were mostly wrapping up, Peter having finished with his ten minutes ago. He had been mostly quiet throughout the evening, something that MJ picked up on immediately, but Peter mumbled a 'just tired' excuse. He wasn't exactly sure if she bought it, but either way she didn't ask again. Their homework session passing in peaceful silence. 

Or at least, that's probably what it seemed like to MJ. To Peter, he was steeling his confidence together so that he could tell her. He knew he probably shouldn't be as nervous as he was, he knew for a fact that MJ was supportive without a doubt. She'd even been to the last Pride parade to support her cousin, so it wasn't like their friendship would be terminated when Peter got round to telling her. 

He just needed to get it out, hopefully in a way that would be easily understood and not just a nervous babble of words. 

"Um...MJ?" Peter asked, biting his lip. 

"Yeah?" She replied, her blank expression betraying nothing as she tore her attention away from her homework to look up at him. Damn, MJ was still so hard to read. He had no idea how this was going to go. Mild indifference, but ultimately accepting? Awkward acceptance? Fake acceptance? Cheerful acceptance? Who knows.

"Well, there's a thing...about me I want to tell you and well, um, I don't really...know how to, um, say it?" Peter stumbled over his words, his posture tense. He dropped his gaze from hers, locking it onto a section of wall that MJ had made into a dedicated photo collage. 

Most of the photos were selfies with different people in different places, some were of protests that she had been in, there were a few landscapes from the different views of New York, and there was also a few photos of people that inspired her. But the one photo that Peter stared at was a selfie that MJ had taken of her at Pride. 

MJ herself was still silent, waiting. 

"I'm...trans."

He gulped. 

"M-My name is Peter."

He gripped his hands tighter together. 

There was another silent moment, quiet enough for Peter to brace himself enough to flick his gaze over to MJ. To his surprise, she smiled at him. One of her rare 'I don't care that I'm smiling, I'm gonna do it anyway' smiles that Peter had only ever seen once before. 

"Nice to meet you Peter." She held her hand out for a hand shake. "Thanks for telling me."

Peter let out a relieved breath and smiled back, gladly shaking her hand. "Thanks MJ."

"Dude, no problem. Wanna come to Pride with me this year?" She asked. "It's still a ways off, but it's pretty fun."

"Um. Yeah." Peter grinned, pulling his hand back. "That...would be really cool."

MJ was still smiling as she turned back to finish her homework. "So anything else you want to tell me whilst we're at it?"

"Okay, well, I guess I can tell you that I'm Spiderman." Peter offered, still half dazed and caught up in that fresh euphoric overwhelming feeling of acceptance. It didn't feel real honestly, he hadn't quite realised what he was admitting. 

"Oh, I figured that out a while ago. Make sense." She nodded. "Thanks for telling me though."

"Wait, you figured it out?!" Peter snapped back to himself, his heart returning to it's previous fast pace. "Wh— How?!"

MJ looked up at him amused with a single arched eyebrow. "You haven't exactly been subtle in your endeavors, Peter. I've suspected since DC, after all, a Queens exclusive vigilante suddenly deciding to branch out his reach to DC only for the day that the team was there? Stopping no other crime or disaster except at the Washington Monument, then returning to Queens the next day? Please." She scoffed lightly. 

"And then when you ditched Homecoming and Spiderman brought down Liz's dad, I knew. Just thought I'd keep it a secret until then, since you were so worried about people knowing."

Well. Somehow, Peter had forgotten how observant MJ really was. "O-oh. Man. Um. I guess, thanks for letting me tell you...?" Peter said unsure what to say to that. "You're technically the first person I've told about that."

MJ looked thoughtful. "I guess that makes sense. Am I the first one you've told about your gender?"

"N-no. Um. Second. First was Ned." Peter shrugged, biting his lip. "I know it's probably...obvious but can you like...when we're around other people..."

"You mean, around other people you're just Petra?" MJ asked, and Peter nodded. "Of course. I'll also help and support you if you ever decide to come out to other people though." She smiled again. 

Peter grinned back at her. "Thank you MJ."

Although MJ didn't use his name unnecessarily like Ned, the same surge of confidence did rush through him whenever he heard it. And with MJ in the loop, he heard it much more often. At lunch, he was completely Peter. When they were studying in the library, when they hung out outside of school, working together in class. It was nice. It gave him a lot more room to breath in his day to day activities. 

Not to mention, the added freedom of having MJ in on the Spiderman secret. Well, having her in on the secret openly. She helped Peter with finding Spiderman footage online, even sending him a few blog posts that were positive about the vigilante when it was a rough day of patrols. 

Though Peter went into telling her with about a sixty five percent confidence that she'd accept him, her actual acceptance did encourage him to come out to the next person on his list. And oh boy, he was he worried. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im kinda shrug on how this one turned out tbhh. mj is so hard to write lmao, i hope i got it right. oh yeah i also hc mj as pansexual but i didn't wanna detract from the scene by having her just go "oh yeah im pan". i also hc ned as asexual too. both'll probably come up later on in the fic, if i manage to wedge it in there. 
> 
> anyways, i know i just posted the first chapter yesterday, but don't expect daily updates, i'm terrible at that and i already had this 80% written. plus i think if i get lucky, the next part will be considerably longer. my planning notes were deffo a lot longer than the first two (nearly three times longer) so that's usually an indicator of length. but next up: tony stark.
> 
> anyways, thanks for reading and lemme know what you think!


	3. Tony Stark

It took a whole two months for Peter to build his confidence up enough to tell Mr Stark. Call him cowardly or not, Peter halfway wanted to never say it but also simultaneously wanted it over as soon as possible. It would be another step further in uprooting everything in Peter's life. Because Mr Stark was his mentor. The guy who helped him out with the other part of Peter's life as Spiderman, the man who was practically Peter's father figure. 

If Mr Stark didn't accept him...honestly Peter wasn't sure what would happen. There'd be an immediate end to the friday night workshop visits, for definite. He'd probably want the suit worth millions of dollars back too. Not to mention the unconditional help Mr Stark gave when something got way too much for him. Peter would have to go back to the Spiderman days that seemed so lonely. 

He didn't often admit it, but whenever Peter had been on duty in the early days, it was so nerve wracking to navigate the dark streets alone. Even when he was kitted up to stop bad guys, with all his senses to warn him and the civilians he talked to, it felt almost desolate. Nothing but Peter and his thoughts, and the constant anticipation of danger. It was one of the reasons he got into the habit of thinking aloud, because if he was talking the air wasn't so silent anymore. 

It changed with Karen. Although she was little more than an incredibly advanced computer system, it was reassuring to have a little back up. The ability to call Mr Stark hands free if ever he needed it. He'd only ever actively used the function twice, and Karen using it herself four times, but it was comforting. Not to mention the times where Ned used the Baby Monitor Protocol to help if Peter was on the trail of something weird he was investigating. 

So yeah, it would  _suck_ to have to go back to the pre-Stark suit days, but that was mostly only a tiny part of why Peter was so terrified to tell Mr Stark. But the main reason...

He didn't want to disappoint him. 

Because that was the kicker, Peter looked up to the man. Every small bit of praise that Peter got, filled him with happiness and the desire to do  _more_ to get even more praise. C'mon, it's  _Iron Man_ who wouldn't want to earn his praise? The guy was so  _awesome_! And that was before Peter got to know the man behind what the media and public saw, because that man was just as cool, if not better. 

So Peter was terrified. But he was also determined. He wanted to believe that Mr Stark was a decent guy who would accept him. But to find out if he was decent, Peter needed to bring up the subject. It was clear that it wasn't going to get brought up any other way, unless Peter was incredibly lucky, but luck wasn't exactly his thing. 

And so that brought him to the friday night that Peter decided he would do it. He'd sent his determined thoughts to the group chat with MJ and Ned, they were encouraging, supportive and positive, which definitely helped loosen his nerves on the drive to the compound. 

 

> **Peter**  
>  today's the day let's hope this won't go horrible へ[ : ⊚ ﹏ ⊚ : ]ง
> 
> **MJ  
>  ** today's the day for what?
> 
> **Peter**  
>  im gonna tell mr stark  
>  im silently petrified but hopefully the worst that this'll go is awkward ~( >m<)~  
>  im gonna do it and im not gonna chicken out. i can do this. 
> 
> **Ned  
>  ** Oh dude, you're gonna come out to him??
> 
> **Peter**  
>  ye so like words of encouragement would be good. either that or help me  
>  plan the move to paris to become homme araignée when this fails. 
> 
> **MJ**  
>  if he's unaccepting i will lead a 3 month long protest right in front of stark industries for you
> 
> **Ned**  
>  I think he will be accepting!! C'mon man he's at least a feminist right? He's faced reporters  
>  head on for their misogynistic behaviour right? It'll work out well!
> 
> **MJ**  
>  what nerd said. but if it goes bad, then let us know and we can have an emergency sleepover  
>  at my place, my folks are out. we can watch star wars together, and you guys can tell me all  
>  about the stuff i don't understand. good luck. 
> 
> **Ned**  
>  Yeah! I'm down for a sleepover! And don't think I didn't miss that MJ why'd you keep calling  
>  me nerd but only in the chat??
> 
> **MJ**  
>  lmao my phone keeps autocorrecting it haven't bothered to change it, nerd.
> 
> **Ned  
>  **......You don't use autocorrect though. You said it's for losers and business people.
> 
> **MJ**  
>  whoops you're right. can't blame me your name is literally only one letter away from the  
>  word tho force of habit. not the point who cares. peter it'll all work out find, don't sweat it.   
>  besides your spanish is better, move to mexico instead and be hombre araña.
> 
> **Ned**  
>  Yeah! Good luck Peter!
> 
> **Peter  
>  ** thanks guys you're the best ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥ω˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

 

He didn't immediately leap into the topic. Peter was probably twice as nervous as he was the previous two time he'd done this, and if Mr Stark noticed Peter's weird behaviour he didn't comment. He was jittery and talked way more out of nerves, rambling on about this and that, hyperfocusing on the task at hand

Today, they were working on general maintenance for the Iron Man suits. It was something that Mr Stark once claimed was 'basic personal intern stuff like fetching coffee or doing paperwork', but Peter knew otherwise. He'd mentioned once to Mr Stark that maintaining something usually helped calm him down with the familiarity of it. He'd been sort of disappointed to learn that the maintenance for the Spiderman suit was just to hook it up to charge occasionally. Since he mentioned it though, anytime that Peter was obviously nervous, sad or otherwise caught up in his own head, there would be maintenance that just happened to need to be done. 

It was definitely helping calm Peter nerves. The suffocating sea of thoughts about rejection had started to quell into mild worry. He was still unbelievably worried but less panicky about the decision. He'd been silent and still for the last ten minutes, all traces of jitters faded away. 

"So what's eating at you kid? Been all over the place tonight, more so than usual." Mr Stark asked, turning away from where he had been looking over FRIDAY's code for bugs. He twirled in his chair to face Peter. 

Peter looked up for a moment before diverting his eyes, he took a deep breath and refocused on the suit. "I...was wondering something. But I wasn't really...sure about how to ask you."

"Well, go on shoot." Mr Stark encouraged as he stepped forwards to help with the suit, seemingly unable to sit still without anything in his hands. 

"Okay, so I was looking online for a school paper about representation and how it matters to minorities. I decided to go for LGBT+ representation in celebrities and the like, so looking at celebrities that came out and the how the media and everyone else treated them. And it got me thinking about how the LGBT+ aren't really represented or even considered in superheroes? Like, what do today's superheroes think of the LGBT+ community and I couldn't really find anything. No mention at all, so um, my question is what are  _your_ thoughts on the community Mr Stark?"

Peter didn't look up from the suit, too happy to try and pose the question as a casual 'just curious' question. The word vomit was too rambly, god he hoped he could pass it off as a casual question if it was a bad answer. He didn't dare look up. If he looked up and Mr Stark saw how seriously Peter needed the answer, any attempts at sheepishly denying it went completely out the window. 

"Huh. Well, I don't really have much knowledge about the community, kid. But I think everyone should have the right to love who they want and express themselves how they want. As long as they're not hurting anyone they're fine with me." Mr Stark shrugged, he was quiet for a moment before staring at Peter. "I have a feeling that there's a different reason you asked though."

Peter sighed, putting the tool in his hand down on the worktable. "Um, yeah, actually."

He took a breath. "I...lied to you when we first met Mr Stark."

"...About what?" 

Peter took another deep breath. "I told you that I didn't bother correcting people that Spider _man_ was Spiderwoman. But that's not exactly true. I...when I heard people calling me Spiderman I liked it. It made me feel more confident. So I kept it. Um. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, um, I'm—I'm a guy?"

"Oh." Mr Stark replied, his tone surprised. Peter flickered his nervous gaze upwards to judge his expression. He looked thoughtful for a moment, still clearly surprised. But then a moment he smile. "Okay, so you're...trans? Is that the term?"

Peter nodded his head a little. "Y-yeah, that's— That's it." 

"Alright then, kid. So what'd I call you then? Unless you're keeping your name, which is cool."

"Oh, um, I go by Peter?" Peter said, his voice high with uncertainty. It...seemed to be going well so far?

"Peter. Peter Parker. Huh, yeah it suits you kid." Mr Stark smiled at him. "So, you're Peter Parker, fifteen year old boy from Queens who spends his nights as Spiderman."

That fuzzy, bubbling, happy feeling of acceptance bloomed in his chest as he heard Mr Stark's words. He was using the right pronouns...the right name. God it felt so nice hearing his mentor call him Peter.

"Thanks for tell me, kid. I'll probably slip up a few times, feel free to correct me at any time. But yeah, feel better now?" Mr Stark asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Peter smiled. "Much better."

Mr Stark then checked his watch for the time. "Wanna go get our four hour late dinner, two hours early? Maybe we'll actually make it through the movie this time instead of you passing out halfway through." 

"I don't do that! Okay, so I don't make it through the last ten minutes usually, but it's not all the time!" Peter rebutted, smiling as he stepped away from the worktable to follow the billionaire. 

"Pft. I always have to lead you to your bed to make sure you don't fall on the stairs and you know it—"

Peter surged forwards before he could regret it, wrapping his arms around Mr Stark's waist in a hug. "...Thank you."

There was a moment where Peter was starting to think he crossed a few boundaries, but then there were arms around him too, returning the hug. "Any time, Peter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eeeeeehhhh still not 100% happy w this chapter but shrugs. good enough i guess. but ye! i always hc that tony only knows bare bones lgbt+ knowledge, like what the main four letters stand for and basically what they are. he probably hasn't had contact with many lgbt+ people in his position. BUT!! tony's the guy who cares abt those closest to him that he'd learn all there is to know abt supporting trans people. so he's gonna go from "vaguely aware of trans stuff" to "i know all there is to know abt trans stuff" to support peter. 
> 
> i was gonna mess around with inserting images to add in emojis bc i wholeheartedly believe that ned would spam the use of emojis and peter would probably too (but i saw that first kaomoji and had to use it) but i got super lazy and last time i did that it was real finnicky and eh i'll just come back and do that later. 
> 
> idk when the next chapter'll be out but i wanna say soon. kind of looking forwards to it, but at the same time idk if it'll be anything new or exciting, next up: aunt may.

**Author's Note:**

> **notice: as of 12/11/2018 i'm orphaning this work due to the fact that i no longer write/read mcu fics. thanks for enjoying the fic, but it's going to stay uncompleted. sorry.**


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